The Democratic incumbent leads by nearly 40 percentage points among unaffiliated voters and even picks up 38% support from GOP voters.

Manchin is seeking his second term as governor, after defeating Republican Monty Warner 64% to 34% in 2004. Currently, he earns good or excellent job approval ratings from 58% of voters, while 25% say he is doing a poor job. Weeks served one term as a state senator beginning in 2002 but was defeated when he ran for re-election in 2006.

The governor is viewed favorably by 74% of voters and unfavorably by just 25%. Weeks is much less familiar to voters. The challenger is viewed favorably by 37%, unfavorably by 40%, and 23% still have no opinion.

Rasmussen Markets data gives Manchin a
% chance of winning re-election in November. These results are updated on a 24/7 basis by market participants. It costs nothing to join, so add your voice to the collective wisdom.

The latest numbers from the presidential race in West Virginia will be released today at 5 p.m.

This telephone survey of 500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on October 20, 2008. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.